Brian Knight recently had the basic need to retrieve a record from the database at random. What seemed to be an easy task quickly became a complex one. This case showed an interesting quirk with T-SQL that was resolved in an equally quirky way. This quick article shows you a method to retrieve random data or randomize the display of data.
2003-03-26
9,399 reads
Chris Kempster (frequent contributor to the site) has released an ebook titled SQL Server 2000 for the Oracle DBA. The press release contains a brief overview of the book plus links to several reviews. Priced at $20 per copy, not bad at all!
2003-03-25
2,839 reads
What should SQL Server Central provide to the community in a review? Read on and give us some feedback so we can make this site better.
2003-03-24
3,516 reads
Several months ago Andy posted a 'Review of Developing Windows Based Applications for VB.Net and C#.Net' and mentioned that his company was requiring all developers to achieve the MCAD within 12 months. Read this to find out how the first exam went, how they studied, what they achieved, and their plans for taking the rest of the exams.
2003-03-21
7,755 reads
Lockwood Tech continues to grow it's product line! This link points to an info page provided by the vendor that highlights the capabilities of this reporting product.
2003-03-20
1,183 reads
This article looks at change management from the perspective of the DBA, including how to use source control to your advantage and planning for 'self-healing' apps.
2003-03-18
12,358 reads
This white paper discusses the basics of indexes, such as density and selectivity, effects of many versus few indexes, long versus short keys, covering indexes, and how the SQL Server optimizer chooses indexes
2003-03-14
2,226 reads
In this quick article by Jon Reade, he shows you how to correct an unusual error in SQL Server that may occur when you create a database.
2003-03-12
5,630 reads
This week Andy looks at where, when, and how jobs should be run and why you need to think about those items before you build the job. Part of this is deciding what runs on production servers and what doesn't.
2003-03-11
7,150 reads
The first article in a series about moving your data from one server to another. Steve Jones has some techniques he's used for upgrading hardware, replacing existing servers, or just moving to a different server.
2003-03-10
9,944 reads
By Steve Jones
I don’t have SQL Server installed on my laptop. In an effort to keep...
Slow-running queries can degrade your Redshift cluster’s performance and lead to increased costs. Identifying...
By gbargsley
If you've been here before, you know this blog is usually about SQL Server,...
Hi all Can I get some perspective from the community please on performing in-place...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How Long is a Long...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL...
In SQL Server 2025, a long I/O is recorded in the error log with message 833. How long much an I/O request be outstanding before this message is written to the log?
See possible answers